4/9 Fed fisheries, soggy hills, Kalaloch whales, growth area, culverts, coal export, BC beavers

BirdNote Gull (Mike Mercer)

BirdNote: Seabirds have no problem drinking sea water. The salt they take in is absorbed and moves through their blood stream into a pair of salt glands above their eyes. The densely salty fluid is excreted from the nostrils and runs down grooves in the bill. As the drop gets larger, the bird shakes its head to send the salt back to the ocean. A seabird's skull has a pair of grooves for the salt glands right over the eyes. Seabirds Drink Salt Water

Federal fisheries managers for the West Coast are poised for a major change in the way they make sure that plenty of fish remain in the sea. The Pacific Fishery Management Council is meeting in Portland this week. On Tuesday, it's expected to adopt a new ecosystem management approach to managing the catch off Oregon, Washington and California. That means that when making decisions on sport and commercial fishing seasons, quotas and fishing methods, the council will take into account factors such as habitat, and the impacts on other marine species that may depend on another species for food or be a source of food for others. Jeff Barnard reports. West Coast fisheries to see ecosystem approach

Soggy hillsides are falling prey to the seemingly never-ending cycle of downpours hitting Puget Sound this week. Since Sunday, landslides have targeted a home, covered a south Seattle street with debris and knocked a train off its tracks. One slide blocked a section of Rainier Avenue South. Tricia Manning-Smith reports. Soggy hillsides falling prey to drenching springtime rains   See also: Landslides follow weekend of wet weather  

Knowing where to look for whales, and how to identify the whales you see, is getting easier at Olympic National Park thanks to The Whale Trail, the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, and the park staff. On April 11 a "Whale Trail" sign will be dedicated at Kalaloch Lodge on the Olympic Peninsula’s Pacific Ocean shore. On it you'll find information about gray whales, sea otters and endangered orcas that frequent the area. Learning About Whales Getting A Little Easier At Olympic National Park  

The Board of County Commissioners will accept public comment and could decide today whether to review an Anacortes petition to change the city’s long-term growth area and make way for a massive bottling plant. The meeting, which will include a public hearing on the proposed growth area change, will start at 6 p.m. in the Skagit County Commissioners Hearing Room, 1800 Continental Place in Mount Vernon. Written comments will be accepted by the county until 4:30 p.m., Monday, April 15. Mark Stayton reports.  Comments sought for Anacortes growth area expansion 

In 1978, North Creek -- which originates in south Everett and runs south to Lake Washington -- was teeming with chinook, coho and sockeye salmon, along with steelhead and cutthroat trout. "The fish were so thick you could literally walk across their backs during the spawning season," said Tom Murdoch, director of the Adopt A Stream Foundation. The environmental organization is based in McCollum Park, through which North Creek runs. Now, in some years, a few fish return to the creek, Murdoch said. Some years, there are none. The creek runs through a culvert under 128th Street SW. When it rains, the water gushes through the culvert, keeping fish from getting through. This culvert and more than 800 others in Western Washington will have to be replaced or removed to make the streams more fish-friendly, according to a recent federal court ruling. Bill Sheets reports. State facing $1.9 billion bill for new culverts

Beavers are being blamed for considerable flooding of fields and forest at the park named for them, and people who live nearby want the Capital Regional District to rectify the situation. The CRD has asked the province for permission to remove beaver dams that are blocking culverts and causing flooding at Elk/Beaver Lake Park in Saanich. But nothing will be done this early in the spring, because it could put young beavers at risk.  Sandra McCulloch reports. Beaver dams blamed for flooding at Elk/Beaver Lake Park in Saanich

Coal export terminals in the Pacific Northwest will be the topic of a lecture hosted by the Port Townsend Marine Science Center at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 18. Ashley Ahearn, a science and environmental reporter for KUOW 94.9 FM of Seattle, will present “Coal Export Terminals in the Pacific Northwest: A Look at the Policy, Science and Economics of Selling American Coal to Asia” at Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2333 San Juan Ave. Marine Science Center hosts talk on coal terminals

Now, your tug weather--
 WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT TUE APR 9 2013
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE TONIGHT
TODAY
SE WIND 10 KT...RISING TO 15 TO 25 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS...BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. W
 SWELL 5 FT AT 11 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 2 FT AT 10 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. RAIN LIKELY.
TONIGHT
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 3 FT AT 18 SECONDS...BUILDING TO 5 FT AT 17 SECONDS AFTER MIDNIGHT. RAIN
 LIKELY...THEN RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT.

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